{"id":562856,"date":"2026-07-01T05:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/562856\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T05:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T05:24:18","slug":"taylor-swift-nails-and-manicures-easter-eggs-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/562856\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift Nails and Manicures Easter Eggs Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated6 min read<\/p>\n

The Swifties were certain. Grammys night<\/a> 2024 would\u2019ve, could\u2019ve, should\u2019ve been when Taylor Swift announced the impossibly anticipated Reputation (Taylor\u2019s Version). She\u2019d given us so many signs\u2014or so we thought.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been spotted wearing tons of black, and even some positively serpentine Jimmy Choo boots during a break from the Eras Tour. (Snakes and Reputation are kind of a thing.) And in her interview for Time\u2019s 2023 Person of the Year, Swift teased that the previously unreleased Reputation \u201cvault\u201d tracks to come were \u201cfire.\u201d Some fans even swore, based on the truly arcane \u201c112-day theory\u201d<\/a> (read about it here<\/a>), that Rep TV would be released on February 16, 2024.<\/p>\n

Swift arrived on the 2024 Grammy red carpet at Crypto.com Arena in a creamy white custom Schiaparelli gown with black opera gloves. Black! For Reputation? \u201cThe gloves were an interesting styling choice that nodded to trendiness, but also added drama,\u201d says Sarah Chapelle, owner of @taylorswiftstyle<\/a> on Instagram and author of the forthcoming hardcover Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We should have known drama was coming. Upon winning for Best Pop Vocal Album (her 13th Grammy, an auspicious number in Swiftian folklore)\u2014and just as every fan around the world was about to lose consciousness\u2014Dr. Taylor Allison Swift pulled the rug out from under the universe by announcing not Reputation (Taylor\u2019s Version), but a brand-new studio album, The Tortured Poets Department<\/a>. Within seconds, she had posted the album\u2019s black-and-white cover on Instagram. Cue global meltdowns. (Not one, not two, but five friends immediately texted asking if I was okay. I was not.)<\/p>\n

Something important happened next. Upon returning to her seat, Swift discreetly removed those black opera gloves, revealing a white manicure. When she took the stage later in the evening to collect the Album of the Year award\u2014becoming the only artist in history to do so four times<\/a>\u2014she held the statuette in a way that clearly showed off her white nails\u2014discreetly announcing an aesthetic shift not into the black of Reputation, but into the white of TTPD, her newest era.<\/p>\n

It was an act of subterfuge. A wink. We should have known! The gloves were literally and figuratively coming off, putting the spotlight right back on her manicure. After all, Swift has been sending messages with her nails for a long time.<\/p>\n

\"taylorAllen J. Schaben\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Fans wore symbolic manicures\u2014and friendship bracelets, obviously\u2014to the Eras Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaylor grew up wanting to express herself through fashion. But I feel like in the early part of your career, when you\u2019re trying to make a name for yourself, you\u2019re more likely to follow what\u2019s on trend and go with what the stylists pick for you, so her nails and hands are where she would express herself,\u201d longtime Swiftie Courtney Bloch tells me.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why in the Fearless and Speak Now eras, Bloch theorized, we saw Taylor give herself glittery manicures, draw a large number 13 on her hands, or even write song lyrics along the entire length of her arm. \u201cThe arm lyrics used to give us insight into what was happening in her life,\u201d Bloch says. \u201cNow that she\u2019s older, I think she feels more confident to convey those same messages just with her nails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s manicures offer us a glimpse into her inner world. In March 2023, just days before kicking off the Eras Tour, she posted some pictures from rehearsals, captioned, \u201cIn my Eras era. \ud83d\udc85\u201d A purely coincidental emoji? We think not.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

@taylorswift\/\/Instagram<\/p>\n

On tour last year, Swift painted each of her fingernails a different color, signifying her first 10 studio albums: mint-green eponymous debut, gold for Fearless, purple for Speak Now, red for Red, turquoise for 1989, black for Reputation, pink for Lover, gray for Folklore, peach for Evermore, and sparkly navy for Midnights.<\/p>\n

She has also been known to use her nails to hint at upcoming projects. In a 2018 music video for Reputation single \u201cDelicate,\u201d<\/a> for example, she extends her pastel-painted fingers toward the viewer, \u201calmost in this \u2018Look at my nails\u2019 kind of way,\u201d Bloch says. Fans did just that. \u201cA specific way you can leave Easter eggs is on nails,\u201d Swift told Entertainment Weekly in 2019<\/a>, confirming she was indeed sending a message in the video. \u201cSome people picked up on it immediately, others picked up on it a few months down the line, but it made me feel nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the video for her single \u201cKarma,\u201d<\/a> released in May last year, one of the final shots zeroes in on Swift\u2019s hands, holding a latte emblazoned with the face of a clock. A thumbnail painted blue next to the clock\u2019s Roman numeral VIII, as we know now, foreshadowed the announcement about 1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version) that followed, in the (eighth) month of August. Her other thumb, painted Reputation black, is next to the II\u2014which is why so many of us were convinced a Reputation TV announcement was\u2014or perhaps still is?!\u2014due in the month of February.<\/p>\n

\"aYouTube<\/p>\n

The coffee cup at the end of the video for \u201cKarma\u201d<\/p>\n

Either way, Swift\u2019s nails frequently spark mini trends within her fandom. Bloch emulated the superstar\u2019s multicolored mani when attending the Eras Tour last year. She says, \u201cGiven that many fans love Taylor\u2019s style for its approachable and imitable nature, I think her nails, and the fact that she seemingly loves doing them herself, give fans an entry-level access point to her style that we can replicate at home that isn\u2019t dependent on a high-end designer budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the attention Swift\u2019s fingers receive is at an all-time high, not only as her fans hunt for music-related Easter eggs, but also as rumors swirl about her possible or upcoming engagement to her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce<\/a>. She has been spotted going out to dinner in New York City or attending his games with longer nails\u2014not the short, guitar-friendly sort she typically sports. \u201cI thought the longer nails were a reference to Reputation, because she has longer, clawlike nails in the \u2018Look What You Made Me Do\u2019 video,\u201d Bloch says. Perhaps they were a Reputation Easter egg. Or perhaps they were just a woman trying out a new look over the holidays while taking a few weeks off from her demanding job. But could it really be that simple?<\/p>\n

\"aYouTube<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s red nails in the video for \u201cLook What You Made Me Do\u201d<\/p>\n

May we present another theory: In \u201cYou\u2019re Losing Me,\u201d a Midnights single recorded in December 2021 but not released until almost two years later, Swift sings: \u201cI sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick.\u201d Rumored to be about her ex Joe Alwyn, the song tells the story of a frustrated Swift on the cusp of deciding to walk away from the relationship. If Swift does bite her nails when she\u2019s nervous\u2014well, nail polish can be a way of curbing that habit. Fake nails, however, make nail-biting nearly impossible. Could the extensions she\u2019s wearing be a signal to fans that Swift is feeling more secure?<\/p>\n

What we do know is that those longer nails were most certainly press-ons, says celebrity nail artist and Tweezerman<\/a> ambassador Tom Bachik<\/a>, who works with Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez. \u201cOnce I\u2019ve measured a client, I can create a custom, full-coverage nail that is fit and shaped to them,\u201d says Bachik. \u201cWhen a client sends me creative ideas early enough, I can create custom looks ahead of time.\u201d In other words, celebrities can change their nails faster than you can say sabotage.<\/p>\n

\"67thGilbert Flores\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift wears a deep red manicure to the 2025 Grammy awards.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s well documented that Swift enjoys painting her own nails, but she has been quietly working with nail artist Lisa Pe\u00f1a-Wong<\/a> for the last three years for big red carpet moments, like the Grammys in 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025\u2014as well as the vividly colorful video for \u201cBejeweled.\u201d<\/a> (Pe\u00f1a-Wong posted on Instagram that Swift is all about a DIY manicure on tour.) The star\u2019s new affinity for press-ons allows her the flexibility to experiment with color and shape when she\u2019s off duty\u2014and the ability to continue sending us messages through her precisely coded manis.<\/p>\n

She may have gotten us this time with the Reputation (Taylor\u2019s Version) and Tortured Poets Department switcheroo, but next time we\u2019ll know that the proof, dear reader, is in the polish. Never trust a gloved hand again.<\/p>\n

Because remember: In Taylor Swift\u2019s world, nothing is accidental. Not even a manicure.<\/p>\n

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For more than 150 years, Harper\u2019s Bazaar has been the preeminent fashion and beauty resource for women of every age. We cover what\u2019s new and what\u2019s next in beauty by working with the world\u2019s leading authorities in dermatology, plastic surgery, cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and fragrance. Every story we publish has been thoroughly researched and vetted by our team of beauty editors and industry experts.<\/p>\n